BEUKEMA: Hunting season is officially here

By the time you read this, the November 15 deer opener will be in the books. Hunting pressure in North Oakland County seemed a bit down despite warm, sunny weather.

An indication was the lack of campers at Holly Recreation Area. “We only have four sites occupied. But I think this weekend it will pick up,” park manager Shawn Speaker said.

As in year’s past, park officials leave one of the camp loops open for campers who come to the area to deer hunt.

By mid-morning hunters from Flint, dad Tim Brinkley and his son Tim, II were out of the woods for a coffee break.

“It was a lot colder this morning when we went into the woods,” the elder Brinkley said. Over the years he’s taken several nice bucks off public hunting land in the area.

“We heard a lot of shots and saw a lot of small deer; spikes and does,” the younger Brinkley said. The pair were hunting from both tree and ground blinds.

At the deer check station behind the headquarters of Holly Rec, wildlife biologist Tim Payne was busy checking deer.

“Besides aging deer, we’re looking at feet for abnormal growth, shedding, sloughing hooves, or infection usually involves all four feet, an indication of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) in deer,” Payne said. So far there have been no cases reported in Oakland County.

Payne was joined by wildlife tech Jon Curtis and Sarah Ecker. This was Ecker’s first deer season checking deer. As the day wore on, she and Curtis were kept busy.

The Rumph family-dad Paul, Sr., and BJ Rumph-both chiropractors, along with son and brother Paul, JR., all from Clarkston, had Payne check racks from bow season along with a six-point taken by BJ about 8 a.m. Paul Jr, took a nice 10-point Oct. 26 during bow season.

“We hunt together as a family,” Paul, SR, said. “We heard one shot this morning,” he added. The trio had been hunting public land in the recreation area.

Springfield Township resident Tim Hartman brought a spike in for checking. His dad, Larry had been hunting just before firearms season.

“I got him out in his wheelchair, and cocked his crossbow,” Tim said. He explained his dad had a stroke and was paralyzed on one side of his body.

“He really enjoys deer hunting, so I get him out in his chair,” Tim said. Tim’s efforts paid off. His dad took a three-point Nov. 4 and a six-point Nov. 6.

The one common thread between all of these hunters was that they all scouted prior to bow season. Most have hunted around the Holly area for years and were quite familiar with it.

Tim Brinkley spoke about different spots he would use depending on the wind, hunting pressure, and whether he saw deer in the area he was hunting.

All of the hunters had definite ideas about where they hunted from. Surprisingly, hunting from a treestand or ground blind was almost even, with the ground hunters having a slight lead as far as numbers. Success didn’t seem to matter whether in a tree or behind bushes on the ground.

By 7:30a.m., Clarkston resident Forrest Milzow had a six-point on the ground. The buck turned out to be a yearling with a nice, thin rack and good-size body.

“There’s an eight-point out there,” Milzow said. I was surprised by so many deer moving. But I only heard a few shots,” he said.

If you subscribe to the fair weather hunting group, this is a great year to get out, enjoy some nice fall-in-the-outdoors and maybe see a deer. Whether you get a shot or take one, well that’s another dream many of us have.

After all, isn’t that what brings us back to the woods year after year?

NotebookCost cutting continues to have an impact. Now comes the DNR’s Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) highly successful program to be discontinued.

Funds have been cut for the programs coordinator citing a lack of funds. “We’re still open to having groups run the programs with the BOW logo,” Dennis Fox, DNR Recruitment and Retention Section manager said.

If you or your organization want to partner in educating women in outdoors activities, contact Sharon Pitts for information at (906) 228-6561.

Keeping Our Rivers Clean and Your Lawn Green at the Shelby Twp DPW. Attendees will learn about the history of the Clinton River Watershed, current issues and future projects.

Discover how each of us can make a big difference in the health of our creeks, lakes, drains & rivers by making small changes in our landscaping and home practices.

To register and for more information on how to protect our water resources email registration@crwc.org or call (248) 601-0606. Registration is required.

Get ahead of the snow and ski season and get a deal at some of the great ski resorts either here in Michigan or other states. A new web site, www.myskideals.com offers reduced lift ticket prices. This next week, Gaylord’s Treetops will be featured. Buy one ticket and get a second at no cost.

Visit the site and see what is available for the upcoming ski season. You’ll see a description of the resort that is featured for that week along with instructions for purchasing resort vouchers at a special rate.

The intent is to get more people out and involved in winter activities like skiing. Give it a look. The official kick off is set for Nov. 19.

Roger Beukema writes a weekly outdoors column for Journal Register Newspapers. Email him at dutchbeukema@comcast.net and read his blog at theoaklandpress.com.